Some might dismiss the events at this past weekend's Lucas
Oil Off-Road Race Series (LOORS) at Speedworld in Surprise, Arizona, as beginner's luck. Others may be skeptical that lighting can
strike in the same place twice. But no
one can discredit the achievement of the brand new Daystar Products-sponsored
Turner Racing team as they fielded a pair of new, never-before-raced Rhinos in
two different classes and walked away with a pair of podium finishes. Daystar Products CEO, Mark
Turner, proved he could draw on a strong desert-racing
background to be a contender in short-course racing, in two different classes,
in one weekend.

The start of the weekend was less than stellar. A sluggish and overheating motor during
qualifying on Saturday morning on the Daystar Products Unlimited-Class Rhino
#600 had the team suspecting a blown head gasket. With the help of KMS Motorsports, the crew
quickly confirmed the problem and had the head gasket replaced in record
time. No other damage appeared to have
been done, but the engine had gotten uncomfortably hot during qualifying, and
there was no way of knowing for sure what damage had been done without a
complete teardown. Turner decided to
chance it and gave the green light to go racing. However, the poor performance of the engine during
qualifying meant a starting position in sixth place, and the hoped-for starting
inversion didn't happen. This meant
starting toward the back of the pack; not necessarily a bad place for a new
racer to short course, but it also meant a lot of traffic between Turner and
the lead.

The Green flag dropped and Turner's short-course racing
career officially began. Though a
veteran desert-racer, this was Turner's very first start in short-course
off-road racing. The strategy was to
stay out of trouble and get to the finish line, and for the most part he stuck
to the plan. Already familiar with the
track through practice sessions, Turner's primary concern was negotiating the
traffic of two different UTV classes racing on the same course at the same
time. Turner got visibly faster and
faster with each succeeding lap thanks in part to the excellent grip of the
Maxxis tires on the Rhino, and though still trailing the pack by the first
mandatory caution, he was looking strong with the engine problems thankfully
behind him for the time being. Turner
ran a strong second half of the race and claimed a 3rd place finish
when the checkered flag flew for Round 11. Despite the engine issues and the triple digit
temperatures, the Daystar Team was rightfully ecstatic with Turner's podium in
his premier short-course race.

Luck and the momentum of a podium finish kept the team's
spirits high for Round 12. Unfortunately,
disaster struck once again during qualifying for the Daystar Products Unlimited
Rhino. On the last lap of qualifying,
the engine expired, this time catastrophically. There was no fixing it with just a few hours between qualifying and the
race. Rather than succumb to defeat,
Turner entered his other Rhino, the SR-1 Class #841 powered by a Yamaha R-1
motor. Though he had very limited seat
time in this Rhino, which features nearly double the horsepower of the
Unlimited Class and had not been race-prepped (it was brought out to the race primarily
for display), Turner went all-in and entered the car while the crew scrambled
to get it prepped in time for the race. Because he didn't have a chance to qualify the car, this meant a start
in 14th position, which once again meant a whole lot of traffic
between him and the lead.

The Round 12 green flag dropped and it quickly became clear
that while the team would be happy to finish the race with the rubber side
down, Turner had other ideas. After just
a couple of laps, the Daystar Products SR-1 Rhino was catching huge air off of
the jumps on the Speedworld front straights while attacking the track's
infamous moguls at full speed. Preliminary chassis set-up by FST on this car had proved to be as spot-on
as the team's other Rhino despite limited testing time. With Goodyear's new MTR UTV tires mounted on
Walker Evans Racing's new 14" beadlock wheels, Turner quickly began reeling
people in and stayed on pace with the leaders. There were some harrowing moments during the race, including some
mid-air contact with another Rhino and an altercation in the back straight that
resulted in a spin-out. Despite these
setbacks, Turner steadily picked people off, once again in an untested vehicle
and in only his second race! His
all-or-nothing efforts were rewarded with a second third place finish for the
weekend, an unprecedented feat for a first-time racer.

The Daystar Products Rhinos, though starting late in the
season and not points contenders this year, intend to build on the momentum of
Surprise and continue to reduce the learning curve of a new race team during
Rounds 13 and 14 of the LOORS series at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which
takes place immediately following the SEMA show. The team strategy is to continue to test new
Daystar Polyurethane products while they learn the ropes in preparation for an
all-out assault on the UTV classes in the 2011. If these results are any indication, this will be the team to watch in
coming months. Stay tuned!

Turner Racing would like to thank the following sponsors for
their support: